Context of Sikkim

Sikkim (; Nepali pronunciation: [ˈsikːim]) is a state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siliguri Corridor, which borders Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states. Situated in the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest on Earth. Sikkim's capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 35% of the state is covered by Khangchendzonga National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century....Read more

Sikkim (; Nepali pronunciation: [ˈsikːim]) is a state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siliguri Corridor, which borders Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states. Situated in the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest on Earth. Sikkim's capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 35% of the state is covered by Khangchendzonga National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by Buddhist priest-kings known as the Chogyal. It became a princely state of British India in 1890. Following Indian independence, Sikkim continued its protectorate status with the Union of India after 1947, and the Republic of India after 1950. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states. In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal's palace. In 1975, after the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok, a referendum was held that led to the dissolution of the monarchy and Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state.

Modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. The official languages of the state are English, Nepali, Sikkimese and Lepcha. Additional official languages include Gurung, Limbu, Magar, Mukhia, Newari, Rai, Sherpa and Tamang for the purpose of preservation of culture and tradition in the state. English is taught in schools and used in government documents. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Sikkim's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism. As of 2019, the state had the fifth-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing.

Sikkim achieved its ambition to convert its agriculture to fully organic between 2003 and 2016, and became the first state in India to achieve this distinction. It is also among India's most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles "in any government functions and meetings" and polystyrene products (throughout the state).

More about Sikkim

Population, Area & Driving side
  • Population 657876
  • Area 7096
History
  •  
    Guru Rinpoche, patron saint of Sikkim

    The Lepchas are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim.[1] However the Limbus and the Magars also lived in the inaccessible parts of West and South districts as early as the Lepchas perhaps lived in the East and North districts.[2] The Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is said to have passed through the land in the 8th century.[3] The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later.[citation needed]

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    Guru Rinpoche, patron saint of Sikkim

    The Lepchas are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim.[1] However the Limbus and the Magars also lived in the inaccessible parts of West and South districts as early as the Lepchas perhaps lived in the East and North districts.[2] The Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, is said to have passed through the land in the 8th century.[3] The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later.[citation needed]

    Foundation of the monarchy
     
    Flag of Sikkim during its independent monarchy.

    According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, received a divine revelation instructing him to travel south to seek his fortunes. A fifth-generation descendant of Khye Bumsa, Phuntsog Namgyal, became the founder of Sikkim's monarchy in 1642, when he was consecrated as the first Chogyal, or priest-king, of Sikkim by the three venerated lamas at Yuksom.[4] Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse (near modern Pelling). In 1700, Sikkim was invaded by the Bhutanese with the help of the half-sister of the Chogyal, who had been denied the throne. The Bhutanese were driven away by the Tibetan people, who restored the throne to the Chogyal ten years later. Between 1717 and 1733, the kingdom faced many raids by the Nepalese in the west and Bhutanese in the east, culminating with the destruction of the capital Rabdentse by the Nepalese.[5] In 1791, China sent troops to support Sikkim and defend Tibet against the Gorkha Kingdom. Following the subsequent defeat of Gorkha, the Chinese Qing dynasty established control over Sikkim.[6]

    During the British Raj
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    An 1876 map of Sikkim, depicting Chomto Dong Lake in northern Sikkim.[7] However, the whole of Chumbi and Darjeeling are not depicted as part of Sikkim in the map.

    Following the beginning of British rule in neighbouring India, Sikkim allied with Britain against their common adversary, Nepal. The Nepalese attacked Sikkim, overrunning most of the region including the Terai. This prompted the British East India Company to attack Nepal, resulting in the Gurkha War of 1814.[8] Treaties signed between Sikkim and Nepal resulted in the return of the territory annexed by the Nepalese in 1817. However, ties between Sikkim and the British weakened when the latter began taxation of the Morang region. In 1849, two British physicians, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and Dr. Archibald Campbell, the latter being in charge of relations between the British and Sikkimese governments, ventured into the mountains of Sikkim unannounced and unauthorised.[9] The doctors were detained by the Sikkimese government, leading to a punitive British expedition against the kingdom, after which the Darjeeling district and Morang were annexed to British India in 1853. The Chogyal of Sikkim became a titular ruler under the directive of the British governor as a result of the invasion.[10]

    Sikkim became a British protectorate in the later decades of the 19th century, formalised by a convention signed with China in 1890.[11][12][13] Sikkim was gradually granted more sovereignty over the next three decades,[14] and became a member of the Chamber of Princes, the assembly representing the rulers of the Indian princely states, in 1922.[13]

    Indian protectorate

    Prior to Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, as the Vice President of the Executive Council, pushed through a resolution in the Indian Constituent Assembly to the effect that Sikkim and Bhutan, as Himalayan states, were not 'Indian states' and their future should be negotiated separately.[15] A standstill agreement was signed in February 1948.[16]

    Meanwhile, Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of Sikkim State Congress (SSC), a pro-accession political party. The party sent a plate of demands to the palace, including a demand for accession to India. The palace attempted to defuse the movement by appointing three secretaries from the SSC to the government and sponsoring a counter-movement in the name of Sikkim National Party, which opposed accession to India.[17]

    The demand for responsible government continued and the SSC launched a civil disobedience movement. The Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal asked India for help in quelling the movement, which was offered in the form of a small military police force and an Indian Dewan. In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian protectorate. Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications.[18] In other respects, Sikkim retained administrative autonomy.[citation needed]

    A state council was established in 1953 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Despite pressures from an India "bent on annexation", Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal was able to preserve autonomy and shape a "model Asian state" where the literacy rate and per capita income were twice as high as neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.[19] Meanwhile, the Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for Nepalis in Sikkim. People marched on the palace against the monarchy.[19] In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal's palace.

    Merger and statehood

    In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April of that year, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. Thereafter, a referendum was held in which 97.5 per cent of voters supported abolishing the monarchy, effectively approving union with India. India is said to have stationed 20,000–40,000 troops in a country of only 200,000 during the referendum.[20] On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.[21] To enable the incorporation of the new state, the Indian Parliament amended the Indian Constitution. First, the 35th Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an "Associate State", a special designation not used by any other state. A month later, the 36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the First Schedule of the Constitution.[22]

    Recent history

    In 2000, the seventeenth Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, who had been confirmed by the Dalai Lama and accepted as a tulku by the Chinese government, escaped from Tibet, seeking to return to the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. Chinese officials were in a quandary on this issue, as any protests to India would mean an explicit endorsement of India's governance of Sikkim, which China still recognised as an independent state occupied by India. The Chinese government eventually recognised Sikkim as an Indian state in 2003, in return for India declaring Tibet as a "part of" the territory of China;[23][24] New Delhi had accepted Tibet as part of China way back in 1954, but China appears to have believed that the agreement had lapsed.[25][26] The 2003 agreement led to a thaw in Sino-Indian relations.[27] On 6 July 2006, the Sikkimese Himalayan pass of Nathu La was opened to cross-border trade, becoming the first open border between India and China.[28] The pass, which was first opened during the 1904 Younghusband Expedition to Tibet,[29] had remained closed since the 1962 Sino-Indian War.[28]

    On 18 September 2011, a magnitude 6.9Mw earthquake struck Sikkim, killing at least 116 people in the state and in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Tibet.[30] More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the city of Gangtok suffered significant damage.[31]

    ^ "Lepchas and their Tradition". Sikkim.nic.in. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2013. ^ Skoda, Uwe (2014). Navigating Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Contemporary India and Beyond: Structures, Agents, Practices (Anthem South Asian Studies). Anthem Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-78308-340-4. ^ "History of Guru Rinpoche". Sikkim Ecclesiastical Affairs Department. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013. ^ Central Asia. Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar. v. 41, no. 2. 2005. pp. 50–53. ^ Singh, O. P. (1985). Strategic Sikkim. Stosius/Advent Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-86590-802-4. ^ Singh, O. P. p. 43 ^ Sir Clements Robert Markham (1876). Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. ISBN 978-81-206-1366-9. Retrieved 12 June 2013. ^ Jha, Pranab Kumar (1985). History of Sikkim, 1817–1904: Analysis of British Policy and Activities. O.P.S. Publishers. p. 11. ASIN B001OQE7EY. ^ "Sikkim and Tibet". Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. 147: 658. May 1890. ^ "History of Sikkim". Government of Sikkim. 29 August 2002. Archived from the original on 30 October 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2006. ^ Rose, Leo E. (Spring 1969), "India and Sikkim: Redefining the Relationship", Pacific Affairs, 42 (1): 32–46, doi:10.2307/2754861, JSTOR 2754861 ^ Rose, Modernizing a Traditional Administrative System 1978, p. 205. ^ a b Sethi, Sunil (30 April 1978). "Treaties: Annexation of Sikkim". intoday.in. Living Media India Limited. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016. ^ Bell, Charles (1992). Tibet: Past and Present. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 170–174. ISBN 978-81-208-1048-8. ^ Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom 2015, p. 41. ^ Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom 2015, p. 45. ^ Duff, Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom 2015, pp. 44–45. ^ Levi, Werner (December 1959), "Bhutan and Sikkim: Two Buffer States", The World Today, 15 (2): 492–500, JSTOR 40393115 ^ a b du Plessix Gray, Francine (8 March 1981). "The Fairy Tale That Turned Nightmare?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017; and page 2 Archived 15 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine ^ G. T. (1 March 1975), "Trouble in Sikkim", Index on Censorship, 4: 68–69, doi:10.1080/03064227508532403, S2CID 220927214 ^ "About Sikkim". Official website of the Government of Sikkim. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009. ^ "Constitution has been amended 94 times". The Times of India. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011. ^ "India and China agree over Tibet". BBC News. 24 June 2003. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^ Powers, John; Templeman, David (2012), Historical Dictionary of Tibet, Scarecrow Press, p. 184, ISBN 978-0-8108-7984-3 ^ Pardesi, Manjeet (2015), "China–India: Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh Plateaus", in Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly (ed.), Border Disputes: A Global Encyclopedia, 3 volumes: A Global Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, pp. 543–544, ISBN 978-1-61069-024-9: "Soon thereafter, India signed an agreement with China—on April 29, 1954—which explicitly recognized Tibet as part of China." ^ Acharya, Alka (2015), "China", in David Malone; C. Raja Mohan; Srinath Raghavan (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press, p. 358, ISBN 978-0-19-874353-8: "With the signing of Panchsheel, however, India ... established the official Indian position that Tibet was a part of China and that India would not permit any anti-China activity on its soil." ^ Baruah, Amit (12 April 2005). "China backs India's bid for U.N. Council seat". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 February 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2006. ^ a b "Historic India-China link opens". BBC. 6 July 2006. Archived from the original on 7 July 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2006. ^ Waddell, L. Austin (1905), Lhasa and its Mysteries, London: John Murray, p. 106 – via archive.org ^ "Himalayan quake toll climbs to 116, 40 stranded foreign tourists rescued" Archived 26 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. DNA. 21 September 2011. ^ "Earthquake toll over 80; India 68; as rescue teams reach quake epicentre" Archived 25 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. NDTV. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
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